Hi folks - first GF application refused - working on second

Hi everyone. 50s Scottish guy with (online) 30s Filipina GF. We've been online friends for almost a year and things began to get serious in March of this year. She applied for 6-month visitor visa to allow her to visit me (for two weeks) and see if our online romance has substance (we both feel sure it will) and a future. Her application was refused on grounds that she had not adequately provided sufficient detail of her family life in the Philippines; not enough detail of how her teenage son will be looked after when she's over here and insufficient evidence of our relationship. She has insufficient funds to pay for her ticket etc but I'm fortunately in a position (both in terms of savings and annual salary) to comfortably pay for her flights and all expenses when she's here. She can provide more detail about her family situation and has a signed statement from her adult friend (female) who will look after her son. We can also evidence our relationship with extracts from Facebook (including messenger, What's app and Skype. I've also written to my constituency MSPs and MP seeking letters of support. Clearly the Visa authorities think my GF has entered into a bogus arrangement with me to get her over here - and they probably think she won't return at the end of her stay. I should say that both of us want the two of us to be together in the longer-term (subject of course to us getting along when we meet in person!) and we would of course work within the rules to allow here to join me permanently in the UK to hopefully bring this about. Any advice on what else we could be doing to ensure a successful re-application? Many thanks.

Welcome Scotschap16 Just as a thought, have you not considered visiting your GF in the Philippines?

Welcome to the forum Scotschap, sorry to here about the visit visa refusal, you have joined a long list of people who have had there visas declined including myself

A Filipina having her UK visit visa declined is very much par for the course I'm afraid, the sponsor having sufficient funds to sponsor her is totally irrelevant to the application.

For the visa to be successful you need to provide compelling evidence that your loved one will return to the Philippines, this could be family ties, owning a house, owning a business, being in university, having a job, travel history and so on.

Filipinos are notorious for overstaying in the UK, that's the very reason genuine visitors find it so difficult to obtain a visa.

If you search the forum there is lots of advice on which paperwork to submit to enhance your chances of getting the visa.

Better for you to visit the Philippines, you will love it

@steven will be able to give you some pointers

me and my gf did same this time last year and first application was refused in april but 2nd time around we was successful, I put in a supporting letter saying I would pay for return flight and she would be living with me and I would basically pay everything, also put in 6 months of my bank statements and wage slips, and put in copy of my mortgage statement and utility bills to prove where she would be staying. we also put in evidence of facebook, viber and skype. I guess she would need to prove her family is there in philippines some how, keep trying that's all you can do and don't give up
we are now applying a 2 year visa, she actually got the appointment tomorrow 1

Good reply, I always think of you when someone asks about visit visas

When you say your loved one has an appointment tomorrow, is that just to submit the documents or is there a face to face interview when you apply for a two year UK visit visa?

HAHA I'm no expert Timmers, but if I can help someone that's always a good thing, yeah its to submit the documents, the last two times she said that they interviewed her and even took finger prints, so I guess they will do same , I think if they are not clear on things they will call people in for a further interview, I'm sure I read that on the application. we are going to pay the priority so should get decision in 3-5 days

Well good luck Steven although I feel you don't need it

Let us know how you get on.

heres a list of we included on our first 2 applications .

⦁ CANDY LOU DE GUZMAN SUPPORTING LETTER
⦁ STEVEN KNOWLES DECLARATION
⦁ CANDY LOU DE GUZMAN APPROVAL OF ABSENCE
⦁ CANDY LOU DE GUZMAN COMPANY CERTIFICATION
⦁ CANDY LOU DE GUZMAN WORK CONTRACT
⦁ SUPPORTING LETTERS FROM CANDY LOU'S FRIEND
⦁ LETTER FROM STEVEN'S PARENTS
⦁ CANDY LOU DE GUZMAN BANK STATEMENT
⦁ CANDY LOU DE GUZMAN PAY SLIPS
⦁ STEVENS EAYSKART DATES
⦁ RETURN TICKET PRICES FROM MANILA TO HEATHROW
⦁ STEVEN KNOWLES LETTER MORTGAGE STATEMENT AND UTILITY BILLS
⦁ STEVEN KNOWLES BANK STATEMENTS
⦁ STEVEN KNOWLES PAY SLIPS
⦁ candy lou business license
⦁ Candy lou contract for franchise
⦁ SCREENSHOTS OF CONTACT FACEBOOK, KAKAO TALK AND SKYPE
⦁ STEVEN KNOWLES BIRTH CERTIFICATE
⦁ STEVEN KNOWLES letter FROM EMPLOYER

we need it lol, just cant help thinking ive missed something but think I'm just worrying to much

welcome to the site scotschap.

i'm a few years ahead of you--got married a few weeks ago --our relationship started in 2011. she had a visit visa refusal--reapplied--and succeeded. i think lots are refused if the grounds are plausible--just a way of bumping up visa fees for the treasury--a soft target. but dont worry--if your relationship developes your in for a very expensive £££ journey. your wallet will never recover.

Yeah, In our first application, some evidence relating to work happened to disappear.

First up thank you for the warmth of your welcome, encouragement and most helpful advice - it is really much appreciated. I will come back on all the points raised but can I ask if I should do that here in this thread...or more appropriately in the visa section by starting a new thread? One further observation...I'm fairly sure the Manila embassy visa staff will be monitoring this site. This causes me to problems whatsoever as I'm 100% genuine and everything I post will be accurate. Thanks again everyone.

Just keep posting here it will be fine.

Don't worry about anyone looking in, the site has been going now for six or so years and everything about the Philippines has been covered including lots about visit visas for the UK. We are not doing anything illegal, we are just a group of like minded people with something in common sharing our experience of the Philippines and everything related to it.

If you have any questions then just ask away, people on the forum just use their own experiences to help others, all subjects are covered

My now wife was refused two visit visas for the UK even though she had visited the UK previously, it makes it more difficult for your loved one to obtain a UK visit visa when the UKVI know there is a love interest in the UK, that's why it is paramount you give them as much evidence as possible that she will return home. The problem is though, not all Filipinas can collate the required evidence to convince the UKVI that they will return home. When our first visit visa was turned down I just thought oh nothing to worry about I just need to put a bit of a financial clout to the visa then everything will be fine on the next application, it wasn't. It was only when I joined this forum that I began to realise that applying for visit/settlement visas for the UK is not the formality I thought it was, attention to detail is the priority when applying for the visa.

If I was to apply for a UK visit visa tomorrow under the same circumstances we had back then knowing what I know now after being a member here on the forum for a couple of years I am 100% certain I would get the visa.

Good luck and welcome.

How are you related to Beyoncé!?

ex wife waiting divorce hahaha

Welcome to the forum. If you haven't visited the Philippines, then your simplest and cheapest bet is for you to fly there. However, leaving that aside:

When applying for a tourist visa, the Filipina needs to convince the immigration authorities that she will return home at the end of her stay. Evidence of that might include her being in ongoing employment in the Philippines, owning property in the Philippines, or leaving a minor child behind. She will also need to demonstrate funds to cover her stay (that you can send her) , and that she has secured accommodation for example if her funds clearly are not sufficient to fund a hotel based trip.
The fact that you have a romantic interest will act against you because it is more likely that she will overstay. Excessive evidence of your relationship (such as chat logs) is not necessary and may even be counterproductive.
Letters of support from your MP, friends, family are irrelevant.
You need to evidence by documentation that she has strong ties to her home country.

I suggest that you restrict your next application to items such as:

Her bank statements showing funds are available for both the flight and the stay.

Details of her (ongoing) employment.

Details of property and/or businesses that she owns in the Philippines.

Details of any educational courses she is enrolled in that will require her return.

Brief statement of her living arrangement (who she normally lives with - I assume she normally lives alone with her child) and details of her child and who will look after him in her absence. Ensure that the 'absence' letter gives a clear time limit - 'I am prepared to look after the child for N weeks whilst my friend is away' - and not 'I am prepared to look after the child for ever'.

A planned itinerary with locations and dates

A letter of confirmation from you that she will be staying at your home for a stay not exceeding N weeks.


Hope this is helpful.

We were successful in our visit visa application.
We stated that my now wife had a job to return to, had family ties (lives with her parents) and that we intended to marry in the Phils.
I stated I would be solely responsible for all her expenses, that she would be staying with me and that we would not be asking for any support from the UK government.

My girlfriend used an agency in Davao for her first visitors visa and they proved to be successful. At the time I thought what they were asking for as proof/evidence seemed excessive, but as Jann kept telling me, they do this for a living, they know what they are doing, and sure enough we got the visa at the first attempt. Don't ask me how much extra it was, but it was not a lot, and it was money well spent as using the agency put her mind at rest during the while application/waiting process.
I know Jann has recommended them to a couple of friends, one was successful, the other is going to the agency today to enquire about a visa for Australia as she was unsuccessful at her first attempt herself.
We are also about to embark on the fiancee visa and although the advice on this forum is invaluable, we will go through the agency again, more for Jann's peace of mind than anything else.